Across the Battlefield
by WonderLand27
Summary: He's a clone Captain she's a Jedi Padawan. Duty and war separate them but not everyone should follow the rules. From comrades to friends to a forbidden love so strong it stretches across battlefields. Slow burn. Please Review
1. The Youngling

_**ACROSS THE BATTLEFIELD**_

 **CHAPTER 1**

The emerald buildings of Christophsis loomed out before Captain Rex as he took in the battlefield from on high. The city could have been, had been beautiful once he supposed but it was now just another place littered with bodies, clankers and brothers alike with the burns of blaster bolts scattering throughout its streets. He saw the scout on the building across from him give the all-clear signal at the same time he heard the irritated voice of his General coming from behind him.

The General was almost always irritated so it wasn't a big deal what was new was the young and clearly _female_ voice that came floating towards him also. Rex turned around to face Anakin.

"What's the status, Rex?" Anakin asked Rex impatiently

"Quiet for now sir, they're gearing up for another assault." Rex looked behind Skywalker, his gaze falling on the alien girl with a grin on her face that spelled the word trouble in several different languages. "Who's the youngling?"

The girl jumped out from behind Anakin and introduced her self "I'm master Skywalker's padawan. The names Ahsoka Tano."

Rex looked from the girl to his irritated General and back to the girl. "Sir, I thought you said you'd never have a padawan." Anakin sighed in response to Rex's question and everything went downhill after that.

* * *

Rex was many things. A soldier, (a damned good one too), a clone, the Captain of the 501st battalion, and personal friends with his General. It was that friendship he was cursing in his mind at the moment. For out of all things Rex _was_ he most definitely _wasn't_ a babysitter. He had no clue what to do with the youngling that Skywalker threw at him after stalking away in anger. The girl, Ahsoka, Rex had barely known her less than a minute and she had spun his world into chaos.

"...padawan." She hissed under breath as they walked away from the lookout tower. She had spunk, Rex would grant her that. Seriously what the ever-living kriffin hell was he supposed to do with a child?

"So you might be assigned to General Skywalker as his new padawan?" Rex asked reluctantly. He would rather deal with an awkward conversation than awkward silence.

"Not might. I was assigned to him." She stated firmly before her shoulders started to slump down and she started to walk a little bit more slowly. Her head was down and voice quiet as she asked "Do you think he'll send me back? I don't want to go back to the temple. I was so happy when Master Yoda told me I was going to be Master Skywalker's padawan. But he looked so angry back there and I..."

Rex mentally smacked himself. He should have asked her about something else, or just stayed silent. "The General is just stressed about the battle. I'm sure he doesn't mean what he said." Rex tried to be reassuring. Was he reassuring? The youngling...padawan, girl his mind settled on looked up at him and smiled brightly at his answer. She looked...hopeful.

"Really! You think he'll want me?"

"I'm just a soldier I don't know how things work for you Jedi, I only follow orders." Rex answered carefully not wanting to give her false hope. The girl quieted down at that statement, her white eye markings pushed together in a frown.

What was she? Rex took the time to study her, she certainly wasn't twi'lek. Her blue and white lekku reminded him of Master Shaak Ti from Kamino. That's what she was. She was Torgrutan, her montrals just hadn't started growing that much yet. The rest of the walk down to the front lines was filled with myriads of questions from the young Torgrutan. Her eyes getting bigger and bigger with curiosity as Rex tried to answer them all. Rex didn't know if he should be annoyed or amused at some of the questions she asked.

"You've really never been on a battlefield before have you lil'un," Rex stated after she asked some wild and outlandish question about always having the high ground. He started to chuckle as he watched her bright orange skin darken in what he figured was a blush.

"Ever since the war started younglings have not been permitted to leave the temple for safety reasons. This is my second time off planet since making my lightsaber." Ahsoka admitted sadly before glaring at Rex taking him by surprise. "I'm not a youngling anymore."

Rex held up his hands in surrender "Calm down, I called you lil'un because of how tiny you are not because of your age."

"I'm not that tiny!" She screeched while stamping her foot making Rex laugh. The General was right when he called her snips. Rex was about to reply but her demeanor changed as they started walking along the front lines. "Have you thought about moving that line back Captain? The men would get more cover that way."

Rex sighed but this time in irritation. "Thanks for the suggestion but General Skywalker thinks they're fine where they are." Even though she had the same thought he did about the line he, wasn't going to tell her that. Respecting the chain of command was the first rule in being a good soldier. He watched as the gears turned in her head as she processed his statement. She was greener than brothers just coming out of their vats, not knowing some of the more basic things when it came to be a soldier.

"So...if your a Captain and I'm a Jedi than technically I outrank you right?"

"In my book experience outranks everything." Rex answered sternly. To many vod had died under the command of inexperienced officers. Her enthusiastic answer of needing to get experience concerned Rex slightly. He was about to retort but then she pointed out the ray shield and the conversation was all but forgotten as they rushed towards the holo table where General Kenobi was with Skywalker.

* * *

Rex watched with concern as The General and Ahsoka walked away from the group arguing. Their bantering was amusing yet at the same time, he was worried. About his men and the mission.

"They make quite a pair don't they sir." Rex watched as Obi Wan looked at the two in amusement. "Do you think they have a chance?"

Obi Wan turned to face him. "They better," he said gravely "If they can't turn off that shield generator before it reaches the heavy cannons there will be no escape for any of us." Obi Wan turned back to the holo table studying it once more. Rex walked away and started to put the men in position. Then it was just a game of patience. That's all war was in the end. Hurry up and wait with bursts terrifying life-threatening action in the middle. He checked his blasters making sure they had enough charge and bolts in them. The waiting was always the hardest part. Adrenaline spiked through his body and made him restless, but he had learned how to deal with it and was able to bundle up the excess energy saving it for later. He was going to need it against the ever-growing swarm of clankers.

As everyone waited for the battle to begin the men started talking.

"Who was the girl with the General?"

"I heard she was his new padawan learner."

"Ha! Get real the General would never take on a padawan learner."

"I was there when she introduced herself. It's true, apparently, Master Yoda assigned her to Skywalker."

"No, it gets even better vod. I was up on the lookout post, she was able to backtalk the General and get away with it. She even called him Skyguy."

"Oh, I bet he didn't like that."

"He didn't. Instead of taking her lip he passed her on to Rex here so she 'could learn respect'."

Rex rolled his eyes. Of course the youngling would cause the men to start gossiping at a time like this and throw him into the conversation too. "Men, focus, you can gossip about the youngling later." Rex barked through the comms and was answered with a chorus of 'yes sirs'. The men soon quieted down and there was silence once again as they all waited for the battle to start.

As the clankers came closer Rex gripped his blasters tighter, his muscles clenched and he forced himself to relax. Soon enough Obi Wan gave the signal and the battle started.

* * *

It was close but Skywalker was able to save the day once again. "Great job General Skywalker," Rex said as the two Jedi climbed on board. He looked at the tired Torgrutan standing by the General "You to kid." She smiled brightly at Rex before turning to look at the General.

Rex watched the mischievous grins between Skywalker and Ahsoka and felt a pounding headache come over him. His mind groaned in agony as it was filled with all the possibilities of the mischief the two could get into.

Rex found himself organizing troops when Ahsoka ran up to him with a giant grin on her face.

"Skyguy officially made me his padawan!" She shrieked with excitement. Rex's headache flared into a migraine.

"Calm down snips." Anakin gently chastised, walking up behind the overly excited youngling with an amused smile on his face...wait, not a youngling. _Padawan;_ and Rex realized suddenly. His new Commanding officer. Force help him and the battalion.

* * *

Rex was going to murder his General. "You can't be serious sir. It hasn't even been a day."

Skywalker laughed. "Ah come on Rexster," Rex's glare could've destroyed planets at Skywalkers use of his new 'nickname'. "It's not going to be that bad."

"I don't know what to do with a youngling! I'm a soldier, put me on the battlefield. I was not made to babysit."

"Then don't think of it as babysitting. Think of it as training a new recruit. Which in some ways she is. Even Jedi have to sign paperwork with the GAR in order to keep the chain of command in working order. So she is in a lot of ways a new soldier, and training new soldiers is in your job description. Now, I need to go find my padawan and tell her the plan." Anakin patted Rex's shoulder as he walked away, Rex shooting death glares into his back the whole time.

Seeing that trying to blow up his General with his mind wasn't working Rex did the only thing he could do. He went to his office, slammed his head into his desk a couple of times before hiding in paperwork. As he filed reports he struggled through what he was hoping was not a mid-life crisis. Close, so close; he was so close to having a promotion and becoming Commander himself and then...this. It's not like he resented the padawan, he really had no right to. But he was worried. She was so green and while it seemed like she wanted to be a good Jedi and protect his men, it didn't matter. Until she learned the ropes he now had twice as much work than before. Maybe five times more seeing how she seemed to be even more exuberant than the General.

How does one teach a green Jedi shinny in the first place? As Rex was trying to figure out the best way he looked at his Chrono. "Ah shebs," He muttered out loud. It had been almost three hours. The General should be leaving soon if he hadn't left already. Rex raced out of his office, he needed to try one more time. As she practically skidded into the hangar he saw the General. He was talking to his padawan who had a frown on her face. A few seconds later she left the hangar head bowed low. Taking his chance Rex walked forward.

"Sir, are really sure about this." Rex asked when he reached the Generals side.

"Don't worry Rex everything will be fine. Besides, I'll only be gone for a week. It's not the end of the galaxy," Anakin climbed into his fighter. "I'll see ya in a week buddy. Make sure nothing happens to my padawan..actually no, make sure my padawan doesn't accidentally blow up the ship." With those last words the dome closed over Anakin and he shot out of the hangar.

"Well, fek." Rex swore before leaving the hangar. He had a Commander to find.

* * *

It didn't take long. He almost tripped over her while turning down a corridor.

"I'm sorry, are you ok Rexster?" Ahsoka asked from where she was sitting on the floor. Did she look...sad, nervous, confused? Rex couldn't tell. Maybe it was all three at once.

"What are you doing there lil'un?"

"Well, I...I was going to go to..but then," She took a deep breath before starting again. "I don't know what to do. Skyguy left so suddenly and I have no clue what's going on, where I should be; I know nothing. I don't like not knowing what to do."

"Sir, I don't understand." Rex answered, completely confused.

Ahsoka glared at him. "Don't call me sir, I don't like it."

"As a Commander in the GAR, you rank higher than me. Sir is a form of respect."

Rex's statement had Ahsoka groaning in despair. "See, I barely understand that. I know the general rankings of Command but that's about it. I don't know how to be a Commander, I barely even know what being a Commander is. Skyguy is supposed to help me. Teach me, but he just left. I know that when I'm on the battlefield I am to follow orders and protect the men as much as possible but besides that. Nothing. I was going through reports on my datapad earlier. I don't even know ninety percent of what they're saying."

Seeing as how she wasn't going to be getting off of the floor any time soon and his legs were getting tired, Rex figured out his best option was to sit down next to her. He had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to be done anytime soon. She looked slightly more relived as he settled down next to her. "Your confused lil'un. I get it, but everything will make sense soon."

"I don't like being confused Rexster. I don't like not knowing what to do. I've been off planet twice before I was assigned as Skyguy's padawan. When the war started the Masters deemed it wasn't safe for us younglings to leave the temple. Everything is so new, so amazing and exciting, and I don't know my place in it all." She fell silent, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

Oh force, she was having an existential crisis. This was way out of his comfort zone. He decided to take a chance. "I can't help you with Jedi stuff, or figuring out your place in the universe but I can help you understand what it is to be in the GAR. To be a soldier. Besides, if you can survive the General being your master being in the GAR will be a piece of cake."

Ahsoka's facial markings and montrals brightened along with her smile. "Really Rexster! You'll help me! Thank you!" Ahsoka practically screamed in glee as flung her arms around Rex's neck in an impromptu hug.

Using one arm, Rex patted her in between the montrals in good nature; while with the other one he was struggling to unwrap her arms from his person. As soon as he was free and about to say something her stomach growled; rather loudly. Her montrals and orange skin flushed a shade or two darker in a blush. Rex shook his head and chuckled a little bit as he pulled himself off of the floor. "Come on, I'll take you to the mess hall, it sounds like you haven't eaten in days."

"Eh, I kind of haven't." Ahsoka shrugged.

Rex stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean you haven't eaten in a few days!" Concern for well being shot threw the roof. The Commander starving her self was most definitely not what General had in mind.

"Well, there was all the commotion on Cristophis, and when we were back on the resolute I was having so much fun talking to the guys I kind of forgot to get food before we landed on Teth. Then there was the battles and drama between Teth, saving stinky's life, meeting Jabba, then master leaving. Food had kind of just slipped my mind." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Besides as a Jedi you're supposed to be able to meditate for days, forgot your physical needs in order to explore the spirituality of the force and understand its meanings."

"Even if that is so, as a soldier, you need to be on the top of your game at all times; and that means having some type of food in your stomach." Rex countered.

"If you insist."

As they got closer to the mess hall Ahsoka started to become quieter which was concerning Rex. Quiet met, she was panicking. "What's wrong lil'un?"

"I was just wondering. Some of the men are going to be in the mess. I don't know what I should. As a superior officer and a Jedi do I separate myself from them or do I try to get to know them? Not only that but with Skyguy gone for a week if I'm not allowed to get to know the men I'll get lonely and bored," She looked up at him with worried eyes "Did you know that my species is a very family orientated species? We need to be around other people, what happens if I'm not really supposed to be around the men."

The two stopped walking and Rex leaned up against a wall thinking of the best way to handle the situation. As a Jedi he wasn't sure what she should do, seeing as how that was not his area of expertise. All of the Jedi he had ever served under have been so different. Skywalker, Kenobi, Yoda, and Plo Koon truly wanted to get to know their men. They were compassionate towards the clones and saw them as the individuals they were. Other Jedi were cold, unfeeling, uncaring. Some only called them by their number. Considered them as nothing but flesh drones. Rex thanked the force almost every mission that Skywalker was his General (yet at the same time he cursed the force for Skywalker being his General. The man was just crazy sometimes, getting himself almost killed every chance he got.). Skywalker truly cared bout his men. He wanted to get to know them, he considered them friends. Rex had a feeling that he would want his padawan to feel the same way.

Yet on the soldier aspect, things were different. As a Captain, Rex loved and cared for his brothers. He mourned when they died, especially the ones in Torrent Crew which he led. Yet he also had to distance himself from them. He needed to make sure that no matter what they saw him as a superior officer.

"General Skywalker has made it pretty clear to me that he wants me to teach you how to be a soldier. A good soldier, and a good leader knows their men. If they know and respect their men and the men know and respect their leader it creates better teamwork on the battlefield and less loses. So I believe, that yes, you should get to know the men and let them get to know you. After all, you're going to be seeing more of them now than anyone else that's not a clanker or a seppie. There will be whole weeks to even a month or two when we're out in space and have little contact with anybody outside of the Resolute.

"From what the General has told about your beliefs as Jedi, you're not supposed to form attachments. Yet attachment is different from compassion and friendship," Rex looked at Ahsoka and smiled slightly. "But I think you already know that. When we were in hyperspace before landing on Teth you were talking to the men, telling the story of how you and the General were able to turn off the ray shield. You were building them up. Giving them moral support. That is a rare thing for a Jedi to do."

"Rare as in bad?" Ahsoka asked. She had been listening very intently the whole time Rex spoke. Soaking up every word he said, he could tell she was truly to trying to learn and understand what he was saying.

"No, not bad. Skywalker, Kenobi and now you; are some of the very few Jedi I have met that want to listen and talk to us clones. That is a good thing. A very good thing."

"I think I understand what you're saying." The two started walking again, Ahsoka deep in thought. "Will you help me get to know them?"

Rex chuckled. "Of course lil'un". Ahsoka smiled at him once again as they turned the corner and entered the mess. It was full, the line long and almost all of the seats taken. Rex quickly looked around, his battle senses taking everything in, judging the situation. He saw Hardcase towards the end of the line talking with Denal and Kix. Perfect. "Hardcase!" Rex barked, the man immediately ran over and stood at attention.

"Sir?"

"At ease, I need you to look after the Commander for me, show her how things are around here. I'm needed on the bridge." Rex ordered. He could see Ahsoka's confused face before he winked at her. She quickly understood what he was doing.

"Yes, sir!" Hardcase stated before looking at the Commander, "Sir, if you want to come this way." He said a little bit nervous. Not quite sure what to do or what was going on. Almost automatically Ahsoka glared at being called sir and said that she should be called Ahsoka. Rex internally groaned while rolling his eyes. Seeing how everything would be fine he walked out of the mess. He took one last look behind him and smiled in approval. Hardcase was already introducing her to Denal and Kix. The group was smiling and laughing within a minute. Maybe taking care of the Commander wouldn't be too bad after all.

* * *

Taking care of the Commander was driving him insane. Rex had been all over the Resolute and couldn't find her anywhere. Where the kriff was she? After leaving her in the mess, Rex headed back to his office determined to finish paperwork. After several hours, a shower and a quick nap later Rex admitted to himself the hard truth. He was hiding. While things were easy to deal with a couple of hours earlier didn't mean he wasn't still in full-blown panic mode and needed to calm down. Except now he was nowhere near calm. He lost the Commander. He was about to pass the door that led to the rec room when he heard the shouting.

"Ah come on that's pretty fekked up why can't he blows up the ship!" One of the men yelled.

"Di'kut! If he blew up the ship the princess would die!"

"What if he at least weakened it? Took out its hyperspace converter or destroy an engine or something!"

"Do you want to find out what happens next?" Ahsoka's voice rang through the argument. Automatically the men stopped talking. Rex turned into the rec room to see that men were surrounding their new Commander. They were sitting in chairs, on the floor, leaning on the wall. Some were even sitting on top of the bar. All of them were facing her with looks of wonder.

"What's going on here?" Rex asked. Almost instantaneously every turned to look at him, some with a twinge of fear on their face, as if they were doing something wrong.

"Rexster! Just in time, come on get comfortable I was about to tell the men how the knight is going to save the princess." Ahsoka called him over with a giant smile.

Rex raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's storytime, obviously" Ahsoka shot back sarcastically.

Amused and intrigued Rex leaned against the wall. "So, what's happening?" Vod automatically started talking, shouting over one another showing their excitement. From what could tell from the snippets of whole phrases he could hear the story had something to do with a princess who was kidnapped by an evil sith lord who needed her in order to perform an evil ritual in order to control the galaxy. There was a knight (but not a Jedi knight) who was trying to save her. A frozen king, and something about Rancors. He was confused but it seemed like a good story.

"Now, where was I?" Ahsoka asked. After a couple more seconds of shouting about where she left off, the men fell silent and waited for her to start again. Why couldn't they pay this much attention during a mission briefing? As Ahsoka told her story Rex couldn't help but feel a little proud. She was getting to know the men and letting them get to know her; and from what he could tell, the men were all liking the new Commander. Each every one had a slight fear of Jedi until they found out what the Jedi was like. Ahsoka was proving that she was unlike any Jedi they had ever met. Rex wondered how things would be in a months, or even a few years if he lived that long. What would she turn out to be.

Almost two hours and several interruptions later the story was done, the knight barely saving the princess in time. The king unfrozen, the knight and princess were married and ruled the planet in peace living happily ever after. Men started to walk out of the rec room and soon it was just Rex and Ahsoka in their. "That was a good story lil'un. Where did you learn it?"

Ahsoka looked down as her montrals darkened into a blush. Rex raised his eye brow and waited for her to talk. He had a feeling the explanation was going to be a good one. "I may have kind of sorta made it up on the spot," She whispered almost guilty like. Rex's eyebrow raised further. "It's just they were all swapping stories and they wanted me to tell one, but besides what Skyguy and I did on Cristophis, Teth and Tatooine I don't really have any. It was...Denal I think who finally told me to just tell them a story any story really. At the temple, we were never really encouraged to read fairy tales but I knew the basics so I started making it up and followed the men's suggestions as it progressed."

She made it all up. On the spot. Because the men asked and it made them happy. She truly was one of a kind. "Well, I say you did good lil'un."

"You really think so?"

"If I didn't think so I wouldn't have told you, you did. Understand this. I will always be honest with you. Being honest is one of the most important things a being can do. It shows respect."

Ahsoka looked Rex, her eyes searching his. "Thank you." She jumped off of the table she was sititng on. "Come on, Rexster, I'm sure Skyguy left you a list a parsec long of stuff you have to do and teach me."

Rex sighed knowing she was right. "Rexster really? Do I get any say in this new nickname you have ever so kindly decided to bestow on me?" He asked sarcastically.

Ahsoka just laughed and nodded her head. "Nope, you're officially stuck with it now."

* * *

A little while later Rex and Ahsoka were in his office going over some of the more basic commands and codes that she needed to know. Ahsoka was a quick learner and soon knew everything by heart. "I just don't understand why I have to write a report. They're so...impersonal and boring."

Rex pinched the bridge of his nose. They had been circling the same conversation for almost fifteen minutes now. "It's about chain of command and accountability. Reports allow the GAR and the Jedi council to know and have a semi-accurate depiction of events that went down on the battlefield. Some times things need to be investigated and the reports help keep details in order."

"I don't understand why I have to write it down. Why can't I just tell them what happened." Ahsoka groaned.

"After a while every battle and battlefield field start looking the same. You can't remember everything that happened in one battle when five others were playing out the same way. Not only that but with the adrenaline coursing through your veins, having clankers shooting at you and many other factors that go into a campaign, details start to blur. Accounts help not only others in the chain of command but you also." Rex explained in what he hoped was a calm and patient tone. "When the General or Admiral asks questions about a particular battle you have reports to fall back on in order to tell them what happened.

"I have an eidetic memory. I can tell you details of breakfast I ate three years ago."

"Having an eidetic memory or not it doesn't matter. In the end you still have to write those reports and read the others."

"Ugh, who knew war had so much paperwork involved." Ahsoka placed her head on the desk before sighing deeply. "Ok. How do I write these damned reports." Rex was explaining about how to put in the details. "DO I have to put in every detail?"

"Yes, every detail even the ones you'd rather not put in."

"Do I also have to write down personal ones?

Rex shook his head. "The GAR doesn't care about or needs to know personal feelings. Only facts," Rex was silent for a second before he rummaged through his data pads. "Here, you can read mine about this campaign. It will give you a good idea of what is expected."

The room was silent as Ahsoka read through Rex's report. It wasn't until several minutes later when Rex remembered he gave her all of the reports. Including the ones dealing with Slick. That was something he still hadn't come to terms with and probably never would. His brother, one of his closest friends at that betrayed him, all of his other brothers and everything else they stood for. He really hoped Ahsoka didn't ask questions about that. That situation definitely went into the whole GAR doesn't need to know personal feelings.

After awhile Ahsoka slid the reports back to him, her face pensive. "I think I get the idea of what I'm supposed to do." She picked up her own data pad and after a few seconds of contemplation started writing out her first report. The two worked in comfortable silence and almost an hour later she was done. "Rex, tell me what you think." She said while handing the data pad to him.

Rex skimmed over it. The details were sharp, matter of fact. Her words weren't muddled or spinning in circles. It read as if she had been writing battle reports her whole life. "Good, really good. I'm impressed."

"Really? You don't think it needs any work? Anything I should add or take away."

"No, I think it's an excellent report and almost a thousand times better than the ones the General turns in. If you ever need an example on how to not write a battle report just look at his."

Ahsoka laughed before sitting up, she stretched, arching her back and smiled as she heard her spine popping back into place. "I'm going to go get some shut-eye. I'll see you tomorrow Rexster."

Rex nodded his head. "Good night lil'un."

Ahsoka stood by his door, hesitating over something. Making a decision she turned back around. "Rex, I'm not sure what really happened you never have to tell me unless you want to but I'm sorry about Slick. I can't imagine what it feels like, having one of your brothers betray you like that."

Rex was silent not knowing how to respond. In the end, he didn't have to. With another smile, Ahsoka walked out the door leaving him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **I normally hate it when people do authors notes and I skip over them but I feel I need to make one for this story. In the description, It says slow burn and that is only technically true. This story is going to be very long and slow (not action slow, they are in the middle of a war after all. There is going to be tons of action). There is a lot of obstacles the characters need to get through. Age differences, maturity differences, and others. At the moment Ahsoka is very much a child still, pre-teens, not knowing what's going on and what to do. A base needs to be set up. A friendship. Right now Rex is a teacher, he isn't even a friend yet and it will take a while for them to reach that point and even longer before they realize they are something more. From a realistic standpoint, Rex is somewhere in his 20's and Ahsoka is barely a teenager, they need to grow older before anything happens. Especially Ahsoka, I am going to try my hardest to mention ages and where they are timeline so it is easily understood where this is going. I hope you guys won't be disappointed when they don't jump into each other's arms by chapter 10. It's just not realistic. Anyways I hope that you guys don't want to read my story anymore with I just said. I'm just letting you know this is going to a very long ride with a couple of twists and turns.**

 **Oh and on another side note before I forget. My other story Rules for Dealing with Commander, while very much is a stand-alone feel-good comedy it also ties in with this story sometimes. Some of the things mentioned in RfDwC will appear in later chapters and vice versa, even though that fic will be done long before this one.**


	2. The First Week

Chapter 2

The First Week

Ahsoka tossed and turned on her bunk. Everything was so different, so new. She was used to sleeping in the dorms with all the other younglings and now she had a room for herself. Not hearing others breathing, snoring, some talking in their sleep; it was strange. She wasn't used to it. Having a room to herself felt..empty. There was just her and her thoughts. She looked at her Chrono, it was 10 am in the morning. Or what technically qualified as a morning on a battleship. In order to have some resemblance of order and so everyone can function properly a night an day was established. She was still exhausted, her body on Corsacaunt time, but she had been sleeping for almost 15 hours. Her eyes widened in alarm. She slept for a whole day! She had never slept for 15 hours straight, normally there was early morning classes or something else she had to do. No matter how tired she was, Ahsoka was used to getting up around 4 am every morning take a shower, have breakfast then make her way to her first class at 6 am.

She needed to get up. Rubbing her tired eyes Ahsoka made her way out her room and down the hall until she made it to the mess hall. Ahsoka shuffled her feet as she stood in line, eyes still half closed with sleep; Her exhausted mind still in shock from sleeping so long and she tried to figure out what she had to do today. The first thing on her agenda was food, hopefully, that would wake her up some and after that, well her brain hadn't processed anything after filling her stomach.

"Commander are you alright?" A voice said as a hand landed on her shoulder.

Ahsoka jumped slightly at the sudden interaction. "Kix I didn't see you there,"

Kix smiled tightly, concern and worry still lingering on his face. "You alright? You seem out of it, did anything happen during the last battle? Something that you haven't noticed or,"

"Kix, thanks for worrying but I'm fine. Just tired," Ahsoka laughed. "If I suddenly come down with a plague or a broken arm I know where to find you."

"If you insist Commander, but just remember sleep deprivation can also be an enemy and..."

"Hey, are you harassing the new Commander already Kix? I know how you get after battles, she's fine." Coric heckled his fellow Medic as he joined the two.

"Come on brother, Kix is just making sure nothing happens to our new Commander, after all; we all die a gruesome death if something does." Appo jumped in also joining the conversation.

Coric gasped sarcastically, "Oh my gods your right," He turned back to Ahsoka and leaned down slightly so he was able to look at her face. "Are you alright? No lingering effects or..."

"Guys I'm fine!" Ahsoka practically shouted. Some other men turned to see what was happening but seeing the smiling faces of the group they went back to their business. "Seriously, I'm not made of glass. Why the sudden worry?"

As they moved to grab trays and food, Appo nudged Ahsoka's arm with his own smiling. "Well, it's simple really. If something happens to you, one of two things will happen to us. The Captain will kill us, or the General will kill us. Now we would prefer it if the Captain killed us, it would a more merciful death. Besides, if your not in top shape who will watch our backs in the next battle and make sure the General doesn't do anything stupid."

The group moved to sit down, the two medics and sergeant surrounding their new Commander, "What is Skyguy like?" Ahsoka asked suddenly.

The men looked at each other in shock, Coric who was about to take a bite of food dropped his fork, Appo who was already eating started choking on his food, Kix was kind enough to slap his back a couple of times, helping him out.

"Skyguy?"

"Oh, this is way too good to be true. How did the General take it when you bestowed that nickname on him?"

"Well, he did seem kind of mad but oh well. He's stuck with it now. Anyways, what is my master like? I've barely known him for three days and he's already gone and." Ahsoka huffed not knowing what else to say.

The three clones looked at each other all of them at loss of what to do. Coric was the one that spoke up first.

"We don't really know the General the way I think you want us to tell you. I think you're going to have to ask the Captain what he's like as a man. But we can tell you what he's like as a General if that helps."

Ahsoka's facial markings brightened as she leaned in closer, not wanting to miss a single word.

"He's a good General, reckless and crazy but good. I think you already know that from what you told us about how you guys turned off the shield off on Christophis. His tactics look completely insane when he does mission briefings but they normally play out with unexpected results and we've all learned to trust him because of this. When General Skywalker and General Kenobi are paired up for a mission and we're working with 212th things can get even more insane. Yet at the same time, they make an almost unbeatable team." Appo said.

"Great General but he's a terrible patient though," Coric mumbled.

"Please don't mention that, last time he got wounded I had to hunt him down for over an hour trying to get him to go the med bay; he decided it was 'just a scratch' and he was fine. Like having a broken arm with the bone sticking out is a scratch." Kix complained. Ahsoka looked at him in shock but he smiled back at her. "Don't worry Commander, he may be accident-prone but he always comes back fine in the end."

"Could you guys not call me Commander, please. It's just weird." Ahsoka begged. The guys looked at each other and shrugged.

"As long as we don't get in trouble, sure kid. We won't call you Commander or sir. But if we're on duty we have to."

"Thank you, and thank you for telling me what you know about Skyguy. With him gone I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Oh, that's easy. Expect crazy and life-threatening things to happen at any moment and when they don't, prepare for them. Up here our job is to prepare for our real job; being on the front lines and kicking clanker ass. " Appo said as he ate another bite of food.

"But what do I do when I'm off duty?" Ahsoka asked curiously.

Kix scratched the back of his head in thought. What could she do? "Well, I'm not quite sure, the General usually messes around with his fighter if he's not off doing Jedi business, The Admiral normally reads giant war books when he's off duty, and the Captain, well he rarely takes a break but when he does he mainly plays darts."

"What do you guys do when your off duty?"

"Easy, antigrav room. That or the boxing ring." Appo spoke through a mouth of food.

"Antigrav room? Boxing ring?" Confusion laced Ahsoka's voice.

Appo swallowed then continued with much enthusiasm, "Yeah, the gym has a boxing ring in the center and there's an antigrav room connected to it. Technically speaking the antigrav room is to be used for training purposes only..but...playing grav ball does qualify as a training activity. Sort of. It trains reflex, coordination skills, observation and a whole mess of other things."

"It sounds fun. Can I play too one of these days?" Ahsoka was practically begging her eyes were getting bigger by the second and before they knew it the three clones were wrapped around her finger.

"Sure, why not. There's usually a couple of games going on during evening time depending on who is on shift or not. We can easily teach you" Coric offered, earning a giant smile from Ahsoka who was practically jumping up and down in her seat with excitement.

"Guys, are you sure this is a good idea? Things can get rough in there and if anything was to happen our heads will be chopped off of our bodies before we can even blink." Kix objected.

Ahsoka looked defeated for a second before she perked back up, a suspicious smirk crossing her face. "You guys don't have to worry about me. Jedi reflexes and everything. Besides, from what you're all telling me this could be good training for me too. I need to learn a lot about being well, whatever I'm supposed to be and this could help." After a second Kix finally nodded his head and Ahsoka was practically jumping with glee once again.

The conversation changed from grav ball to various other topics while they ate. Ranging from battle stories to how to get the best food in the mess hall before everybody else. After Ahsoka was done eating she excused herself from the table saying that she couldn't wait to play grav ball later on.

"We are going to get into so much trouble for this aren't we," Coric predicted as they watched their new Commander walk away.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Protested Kix.

"Ah come on you two it can't be that bad," Appo said cheerfully.

* * *

"Not all that bad uh? Really Appo!" Kix yelled as he fixed Appo's dislocated shoulder in the med bay. He put the finishing touches on the bandages and slapped Appo on the shoulder a little too hard showing that he was done.

Appo winced slightly at the hard slap but shrugged it off, as he stood up from the chair he rolled his shoulder around seeing how the movement was. "Well, things were pretty fun while they lasted. It was Jesse who ruined everything missing the shot like that." Appo explained.

"Hey don't blame your stupidity on Jesse!" Coric snapped from the other side of the med bay as he took inventory. He set down the data pad he was holding, "Hows the Commander doing?"

"Well, she's either doing better than us or worse than us. The Captain looked pretty pissed off after everything that happened."

"Well you can't blame him, I mean come on! Do we need a recap of events here!" Kix threw his hands up in the air before he abruptly sat down in a chair. Completely done with life.

"On a side note, the Commander was really good at the game after she got the basics down." Appo pointed out.

"The Commander is going to be the death of us all," Coric sighed. "How mad was the Captain again?"

"Well he was already pissed off when he saw how Hardcase took her down, then there was the whole incident, and well..yeah. It's really not looking good for the little Commander."

* * *

 **EIGHT HOURS EARLIER**

Ahsoka explored the Resolute; her new 'home' was huge and she wanted to know every inch of it. Everything was just so new and amazing. But everything is new and amazing after living in one place for almost 12 years and never being able to really go outside. So far exploring had led her to find the armory, escape pods, several storage rooms, another room that looked suspiciously like a distillery (she chuckled at that one) and a room full of tally marks on one wall and names etched into the other ones. She was lingering in that room the longest wanting to know the story behind it.

" It's a reminder."

Ahsoka spun around and saw Longshot standing behind her. "I'm sorry, I was just exploring and I can leave. This room is very,"

"Its fine Commander just didn't expect to see you here that's all." Longshot walked further into the room took a piece of chalk and added a couple more names to the list and tally marks. "We know that something can easily happen to the Resolute. It can get blown up at any time and this is really all for nothing but it's something we just do. One for each of the fallen in the 501st, all of our brothers that we've lost the past two years. Usually, anyone who lost a brother they were close to will add their name to wall."

"Theirs so many. I never knew. I'm sorry." Ahsoka whispered both in awe and sorrow. So many lives lost and who knows how many more would be taken before the war would be over.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. It's what we're made for, after all, to fight and die for the republic. Besides, we're proud of what we can do. This room isn't a memorial, a sign of loss. It's a reminder that even though they fell in the line of duty we still fight on. In the name of the republic and for them. If we don't, then what they died for was nothing and that is the only thing we'll be sorry for." Longshot looked up at Ahsoka after a minute and smiled, "Come on let's get out of here. There are better parts of the ship to explore."

Ahsoka happily followed Longshot out of the room, she gave it one last lingering glance before walking on ahead. "So what else is there to see and do around here?"

Longshot grinned at her. "Come on I'll show you something amazing. Just, don't tell anyone especially the Captain. If he found out about this all of the 501st is dead.

"If it's so illegal then why are you showing me?" Ahsoka teased, knowing that she wouldn't tell on them anyways.

"Because I have a feeling you can keep a secret." As they got to the lift they were joined by Ax and Hardcase.

"Commander," They both said while saluting.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes."You guys really have to stop with the whole Commander thing. I don't feel like I'm one yet, besides its not like there's a fight going on."

"Yes sir, as you wish sir."

"Sir is just as bad. Why can't you guys call me Ahsoka?"

Ax scratched the back of his head while looking down at the floor, "It's a sign of respect. Not only because you're our Commanding officer but also because you're a Jedi."

Ahsoka leaned against the lift's walls, hand on her chin thinking. How could she get them to stop calling her that, it was so frustrating. Getting an idea Ahsoka stepped away from the wall, placed her hands on her hips and grinned at the three men. "I have an idea. Let's make a bet. Appo, Kix, and Coric promised they would show me how to play grav ball when their shifts were over this evening. If you guys aren't on duty then lets play. If I beat you guys you have to stop calling me Commander or Sir or anything like that unless we're on duty or on the battlefield. If you guys win, well I guess I can't say anything about it anymore and I'll owe you a favor."

"You're going to keep giving us a hard time about this aren't you?" Hardcase chuckled before putting out his hand. "I'm in, but know this, no one can beat me in grav ball."

"Deal. And we'll see about that. I do have Jedi reflexes after all." Ahsoka put her hand out also shaking Hardcases once. The terms set.

"No, no Jedi powers. If you want to play you have to play our way. Any Jedi moves will be considered cheating and you automatically lose." Ax insisted.

"Agreed," Ahsoka said before turning to Longshot. "Do you have any terms?"

"If anything happens and something goes wrong and the Captain gets involved it's all your fault. You get full blame for everything."

Ahsoka considered it for a moment, was it all worth it if something went wrong? She had a gut feeling Rex could get scary when he was upset. She looked at the men and saw them all waiting for her answer. She couldn't be by herself all the time either. This was a good way to get in good with the men, even make friends. "Deal." She agreed and not a moment too soon. The lift doors opened and the three clones got out.

"See you on the field Commander."

"Longshot what was it that you were going to show me?" Ahsoka called out.

Longshot turned around. "Another time Commander."

And with that Ahsoka was alone once again. She looked at her Chrono. It was barely 12, what was she supposed to do for another 6 hours? As she started walking down random hallways she almost ran into the Admiral. "Admiral Yoularen I'm so sorry I didn't see you."

"It's perfectly fine Ahsoka no harm done." The Admiral spoke kindly. "If I may ask, where are you trying to go? I know that being on a cruiser of this size can be confusing at first, all these rooms and corridors. It's easy to get lost in."

"I wasn't really going anywhere, just wondering around trying to get used to it all. Where are you going, Admiral?"

"I was about to head up to the bridge."

"Can I come, I would like to see how things work up there. I'm going to need to know how all of this works anyways."

…...

The Admiral nodded his head and motioned for Ahsoka to follow him. A few seconds later they were on the bridge. 5 minutes later the Admiral was trying not to pull out his hair as Ahsoka asked question after question. Some of them were good questions and he was happy to answer them. Yoularen took pride in his ship and while it wasn't often, he loved showing her off and bragging slightly. He saw how Ahsoka soaked up all the information and was happy with how much she wanted to learn and know. Then there were the other questions. Some so outlandish he didn't know what to think or how to answer them.

"Well, I don't think that is possible, the hyperdrives just couldn't take it." Yoularen answered with a strained voice to one of her more outlandish questions. He could hear the men that were on duty chuckling under their breaths and he glared at them. They stopped chuckling for a moment then started again.

"Oh, I see." Ahsoka mumbled at the answer. Yoularen looked around trying to find a way out. The girl while nice, intuitive, and obviously wanted to learn as much as she could; but she was also hyperactive and he could barely keep up with her. He could feel a headache forming. She was just as bad or worse than the General. Expect the General already knew how things worked. He was just a hyperactive crazy Jedi. Yoularen's eyes fell on to Captain Rex who just walked on to the bridge and they lit up with hope.

As Rex walked on to the bridge and the first thing he saw was the kid asking the Admiral a million questions. Knowing from experience that her questions ranged from interesting and thought-provoking to just downright absurd; Rex decided to save the man. He was supposed to be in charge of her after all until Skywalker could get back.

"Alright lil'un that's enough, let the Admiral get to back work okay." Rex said while grabbing Ahsoka's shoulder leading her away. He could see Yoularen mouth a thank you and some of the men chuckling under their breath at their new Commanders antics. One thing for sure. She was a handful.

"Thank you Admiral, for answering my questions. I know they can get out of hand sometimes." Ahsoka bowed slightly to the Admiral.

"I, uh, yes, your welcome. I found the experience very interesting. I hoped my answers helped you learn how things work around here." With a final firm nod Admiral Yoularen turned around and faced the vast emptiness of space, letting out a giant sigh of relief as the two officially walked off of the bridge.

…...

"Kid," Rex stated firmly. He watched as Ahsoka's shoulders dropped slightly and he breathed deeply, trying his hardest not to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"I know, I should stop pestering everybody and try to figure things out on my own. Not everyone can handle 'such great enthusiasm as yours'. That's what everybody tells me at the temple. I promise Rex I'll try harder to not bug people." Ahsoka admonished.

"You're just shinny lil'un, you'll understand everything soon enough. You just have slow down." Rex tried to be reassuring once again. It was that or stunning her and Rex had a gut feeling Skywalker wouldn't be too happy if Rex stunned his new padawan.

"I know I have to slow down. 'have patience and the answers will come when most needed.' That's what Master Plo Koon tells me. And I try, I really try." Ahsoka stopped walking and leaned against a wall. "I want to be good, I want to learn and be the best and make my master proud of me." Ahsoka drifted off into a somber silence, and Rex leaned against the opposite wall and just waited. He now knew from _experience_ that she would talk again in a little bit. Keeping her thoughts to herself was not a strong suit of hers. After a minute he internally smirked as she started talking again. "Rex, what did you mean when you called me shinny?"

"A shinny is a soldier that just barely came off of Kamino, they have no battle experience and their armor is still shiny and brand new. That's what you are. Until you get the hang of how things work around here and have more battle experience, your shinny. It's not a bad thing, it just means you need to get experience."Rex explained. He watched as the little Commander put her hand on her chin, thinking hard about something.

"How long until I'm no longer shinny?"

With his brothers, it only took a battle or two before they got the hang of things and were no longer shinnies. But she wasn't vod, she wasn't one of them. Plus she was just so young, he really had no clue. "I don't know kid, it takes some longer than others to get a hang of things. You also have more on your plate, you're learning how to be a soldier and a Jedi at the same time. That can't be easy."

"I cant learn how to be a proper Jedi without my master here can I." Ahsoka shot back almost spitefully.

"From what Generals Skywalker and Kenobi told me there are some things that are similar between our two worlds. Patience is one of them."

"Of course it is." Ahsoka mumbled. She started walking again suddenly and it took Rex a second to catch up to her. "What am I even supposed to do Rex? I'm not on duty and from what I can tell on the roster I'm not going to be on duty until my master gets back? There's only so much meditation I can do before I go crazy. I'm not used to this, I'm used to getting up practically before the sun rises, taking my classes, studying with Master Jocasta, having lightsaber training or something else."

Rex pondered over the situation. There were a couple reasons why she wasn't on the roster. She didn't know enough, yet at the same time, she did need to do something that would keep her out of trouble. He could have her shadow him or one of the other men during their shifts, let her get used to how things were done on a cruiser but that was only half a day. What about the other half? The girl was just brimming with energy, her body practically vibrating from it.

"Hey Rexster, I might have an idea but I don't know how much you would like it." Ahsoka spoke quietly.

"What is it?" Rex asked bracing himself for anything.

"Well, I was thinking, I'm going to be a lot of battles now, and at the temple, they would use training droids to teach us how to block and deflect shots but a training droid can only do so much and"

"No," Rex stated firmly. He was not going to have his men shoot at their new Commander.

"But, it would only be" Ahsoka started again but Rex put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his face and saw the grim determination in it, the unmovable cold stare of a Captain reprimanding one of his men.

"No Ahsoka. I could write a small book on all the reasons why its a bad idea but I'll break it down to just the most important reason. It is wrong to give men permission to shoot at you, even if they are only using stun rounds and not live ones, something can still happen. You could get hurt. If a clone hurts a Jedi it's bad for us, we can get court marshaled and sent back to Kamino for reconditioning." Rex sighed before moving his hand off of her shoulder. Her head was bowed, and her montrals were slightly duller; but even though Rex felt bad at scolding her somewhat, he was not changing his mind. His men were his top priority and while he couldn't stop the majority of them dying on the battlefield he was going to make damned sure nothing happened to them off of it.

"I understand. I just want to do something, learn how to protect them the best I can."

"Lil'un, I know you want to learn but this is not the way. Besides, you don't need to have the men shoot at you when clankers will be doing the job for them all the time. Trust me you'll get plenty of practice in on the front lines." Ahsoka nodded her head at Rex's comment knowing he was right.

As they turned down another corner Ahsoka realized they were at Rex's office. Rex opened the door and motioned with his head for her to follow him. Rex walked behind his desk and started going through the data pads that were on it. "Here kid," He said after he found the ones he was looking for. He tossed one of them to her.

Ahsoka caught the data pad and looked at it with confusion. "What's this?"

"It's a data pad for starters," Rex answered sarcastically, grinning at the glare Ahsoka gave him. "You said that at the temple you study and have lessons. So consider this something to study. The GAR regulation book, it's good to have a basic knowledge of what the rules are around here. And this," Rex gestured to the data pad in his hand. "Is the roster for this week. I can't put you on it but I can make it to where you can shadow me and some of the other men so you know what expect when you are placed on duty," Rex sat down, "Now technically as a Jedi you're never actually on the roster but the General did say before he left that he wanted you to learn what it's like for us and for me train you as a soldier and soldiers are on the roster."

Ahsoka taking his lead also sat down. She put the data pad on the table and placed her chin in her hand. "I don't understand. Technically I'll never be on duty, but because my master wants me to learn how to be a soldier I am on duty."

Rex winced slightly it was a, well not difficult situation but a tricky one. "You'll find out that the General never goes by the books kid. He might seem like he's insane and he most definitely is crazy but he knows what he's doing and trust me when I say he only wants the best for you and everyone here. So all of this let us just consider it a gray area. You'll quickly learn that General Skywalker mainly operates in the gray area. Not doing anything wrong but not quite doing anything right."

Ahsoka opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it. After a second she started again. "I'll ask you about my master in a second, but moving on to something else real fast. If I'm now supposed to be shadowing you and some of the other men, what will I be doing?"

"Well from me, you'll learn what is expected from you as an officer, the paperwork that needs to be filled out and some of the other things that officers have to do. I haven't picked out which men I want you to shadow just quite yet but it will be for various jobs around the ship. I want you to have a full basic understanding of everything that goes on around here." Rex looked at his Chrono. "We'll figure out the rest later, right now I'm needed on the bridge." He hesitated for a second, worried about leaving her alone but seeing how he needed to get back to work and that the Admiral would commit suicide if Ahsoka went back to the bridge Rex really had no choice but to leave her. "You'll be ok lil'un?"

Ahsoka smiled and nodded her head before looking at the data pad in her hand. Seeing as how everything should be good, Rex made his way back up to the bridge. On the bridge, he was greeted by the Admiral.

"Captain, I see the newest addition to our Command isn't here."

"I gave her some GAR manuals to read, I figured it was a good way to keep her out of trouble and teach her a little bit about what to expect."

"I expect things will become very interesting on this ship now that Skywalker has a padawan and one so...vibrant at that." Yoularen chuckled.

"Like things aren't interesting enough on this ship." A clone mumbled earning some light laughter from his brothers. Rex glared at him but did nothing more. After all he had a point.

"Do we have any new orders?" Rex moved to the Admirals side and started to look at the star map in front of them.

"At the current moment our orders are the same, to stay in our current position until told otherwise, but I was talking to Admiral Kilian and he was telling me of a potential threat in the southwest quadrant over here and that we might be called but at the moment it is all speculation."

* * *

For the rest of his shift Rex focused on the various security checks he needed to make and to get everything in order for the next inspection. Seeing as how he did everything he needed to do around the cruiser Rex headed back to his office, half wondering if Ahsoka would still be there. He was surprised to see that she was and even more shocked at what she was doing. Ahsoka was sitting on the floor legs crossed, with her hands on her knees and she was using the force to hold the data pad in front of her. Her eyes were closed and she looked...peaceful. Rex stood in the doorway for a little bit trying to understand what he was seeing. The weirdest part of the whole situation was the fact that she wasn't moving or talking. Rex had sometimes seen Skywalker meditate and he was just as weirded out by it. The General was so active that seeing him being still was an anomaly. Rex slowly moved into his office, trying not to disturb Ahsoka, the longer she was still and quiet the better. He sat at his desk and moved to fill out more paperwork trying to ignore the Jedi padawan that decided to meditate in his office.

It was over an hour later when Ahsoka finally opened her eyes. "Hey, Rexster." Rex jumped slightly at her voice. It wasn't that he forgot she was there, he just wasn't expecting to hear her randomly speak. He looked over at her and watched as she used the force to put the data pad back on his desk.

"I thought you were supposed to read that, not let it float in the air while your eyes are closed." Rex teased slightly.

"I did read it, It took me about an hour. Master Plo Koon always says that you should always meditate on what you study, especially if it is of high importance. Using the force to help you understand and retain the information one is given."

"And having it float in front of you?" Rex asked intrigued. It was always interesting when a Jedi started to explain their beliefs and systems.

"A grounding technique. Sometimes, it helps focus the mind when the object of reflection is in front of us, using the force to 'have it float' is another way to help me remember what I'm supposed to meditate on."

"So meditating on the GAR regulation handbook did what exactly?"

Ahsoka smirked. "It enlightened me on why some of the codes and regulations are in place and how others are pretentious. And some, well some rules are very interesting and I want to know more about them."

"Why do I have a feeling you read the rule book only so you know how to break the rules and get away with it."

Ahsoka shrugged and didn't confirm or deny Rex's comment which worried him greatly. After a minute Ahsoka got up off of the floor and moved to sit on Rex's desk swinging her legs back and forth slightly. Rex raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. He was amused with her actions, one second she was talking like a Jedi and saying something wise and the next she was acting like the youngling she was. It reminded Rex of Cadet school. All of them were kids, but learning how to be soldiers and growing up fast. They knew how to take apart blasters in seconds, how to fight in hand to hand combat and take apart tinnies by the time they were the equivalent to 15; yet they were still kids and acted liked kids when they could. Hell, they still did when an opportunity came up. He had a feeling that in a lot of ways, how Jedi's were raised and how things worked on Kamino weren't all that different in some aspects.

"What is my master like?" Ahsoka asked. "I've heard from some of the men what he's like a General but they all say to ask you what he's like as a person. I know that he is protective of you guys and wants to help as much as possible, I know that he's sarcastic and has a temper; and I know that he is unpredictable and that his 'plans' can change 50 times in 5 seconds."

Rex tried to think of a way to describe the enigma that was General Anakin Skywalker. "Everything you said pretty much sums up the General and what he's like. Don't worry lil'un you two are going to get along fine."

"You think so? I've seen what it's like for some padawans when they're paired with a master they don't get along with and I don't want that to happen."

"I don't think so, I know so. Sadly, I have a feeling you two together are going to be the death of me."

Ahsoka's face lit up at Rex's comment and she knew that in the end, everything would be just fine. The two talked a little more before Ahsoka headed out of Rex's office and made her way to the mess hall. Her thoughts were focused on all the things she had learned throughout the day. Everything from the room with all the names written on the walls, to talking with the Admiral on the bridge and reading the regulations. Ahsoka grinned evilly to herself. She knew some of the questions she asked were completely outlandish but she did it for a reason. Ahsoka liked seeing how people reacted when she asked crazy things, it was funny. But she also asked crazy questions because she was curious by nature and wanted to know everything. Despite that though, she didn't want to become a burden and she knew that her more insane questions had to be tapped down. Caught up in her thoughts, Ahsoka didn't notice she made a wrong turn until she bumped into someone.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" A clone Ahsoka hadn't met yet asked her with concern.

"Doing where," Ahsoka looked around and saw that she had no clue where she was. "Where am I?" She asked mainly to herself.

"You're in the barracks Commander." The clone stated his voice on the verge of full-blown panic. Ahsoka's eyes widened. Barracks, she got lost and found herself in the barracks.

"I'm sorry I was thinking and not paying attention and I guess I got lost. I'm so sorry."

The clone calmed down slightly and gave his new Commander a small smile. "Come on, I'll show you out of here."

"What's your name?"

"Ringo sir."

"Ugh, seriously what do I have to do to stop everybody from calling me, sir."

Ringo looked at his Commander in shock. He was in the room the other day when she was telling everybody the story and he knew she wasn't a normal Jedi; but this was way out of his element. He didn't know what to do when a Jedi wanted to be informal. "It's protocol, sir."

"Protocol, respect, rules, blah blah blah I can't stand it." Ahsoka stopped walking for a second before looking up at Ringo. "Can I make it a rule that unless we're on duty or in a battle no one can call me sir or Commander?"

"Uhmm," Ringo looked around trying to find someone else, anyone else to help him out with what was going on. He saw Zeer walking around the corner and smiled in relief. "Zeer, get over here!"

"Shebs, what the fek do you want you kriffing di'kut," Zeer swore as he came up to Ringo and Ahsoka. Seeing Ahsoka he paled. "Shebs, you're the new Commander. Ah, fek I shouldn't have said shebs. Fek, wait I shouldn't be saying fek. kriff what the hell am I doing. Ah, fekking hell the Captain is going to kriffing kill me." Zeer kept panicking until finally, Ringo slapped his hand over Zeer's mouth.

"You fekking done yet Zeer?"

Ahsoka watched everything with wide eyes. She understood that they were cussing she just didn't know any of the words they were using. "What language was that?"

"I'm sorry, please don't tell the Captain, I will be fine with whatever punishment you think is best." Zeer pleaded absolutely terrified.

"Punishment?" Asked confused before it dawned on her. "Punish you, for cussing? Why would I do that!"

"It's not right to cuss in front of ranking officers, not only that but your a Jedi and a youngling so it's extra bad. We could easily get thrown in the brig for a day or two because of this." Ringo answered

"I'm not a youngling," Ahsoka huffed before moving on. "I really don't care what you guys say around me"

"Oh thank the force," Zeer sighed out with a hand to his chest. Half in sarcasm and half in relief. "Just please don't tell the Captain, you might not be angry but we know he will be. Especially after the lecture he gave all of us yesterday."

"Lecture?"

Ringo hit Zeer upside the head and glared at him. "Nothing Commander, Zeer doesn't know what he's saying."

Ahsoka stared at them knowing full well they were lying but she dropped the subject. "Seriously though, what language was that?"

"Mando'a" Zeer answered, "Jango Fett, our original, he was Mandalorian. Because of him, we try to keep some Mandalorian traditions and customs along with the use of their language. Even though more often than not we only use Mando'a to cuss instead of basic."

"Mando'a uh? Interesting, maybe I should try learning it."

Zeer and Ringo looked at each other in concern, the little Commander full-on learning Mando'a was a bad idea. "Uh, how about you don't do that just yet Commander," Ringo answered warily.

"What was it that you called me over here for anyways?" Zeer asked, changing the subject.

"The Commander had a question, I didn't know how to answer it and maybe you could."

Zeer looked at Ahsoka, "What's the question?"

Ahsoka was confused trying to remember the conversation her and Ringo were having before Zeer came. Her facial markings brightened as she remembered. "If I was to make it a direct order would you guys stop calling me Sir and Commander unless we're on duty or on the battlefield?"

"Uhh," Zeer trailed off not knowing how to respond and he started to panic once again.

"Hey what's going on over here. Ahsoka what are you doing in the barracks?" Appo interrupted. Both Ringo and Zeer shot him looks of pure gratitude, and both of them also noticed how Appo didn't bother with ranks with the Commander.

"Hey Appo, I got lost and Ringo offered to help me then Zeer came and here we are."

Appo looked at Ringo and Zeer, with a quick nod from their heads acknowledging what she said was true Appo turned back to Ahsoka. "Got lost uh? That doesn't sound like a very Jedi like thing to do." Ahsoka stuck her tongue out at Appo making him grin. "Come on kid, don't we have an antigrav ball game to play"

"I almost forgot about that, I have a bet going with Longshot, Ax, and Hardcase about it," Ahsoka turned to Ringo and Zeer "You guys up for a game of grav ball? Kix, Coric, and Appo here said they would show me how to play."

"Sounds fun"

"Why not. I haven't played in a while."

"This is going to be so much fun" Ahsoka squealed making the clones laugh.

"What did you say about making bets?" Appo asked when he was done laughing

"Oh that. Well everybody keeps insisting on calling me Commander and sir and I don't like it. So I made a bet with Hardcase, Longshot, and Ax that if I beat them in grav ball they have to call me Ahsoka unless we're on duty or on the battlefield." Ahsoka put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Should I make the same bet with all of you? If it helps, one of their rules was if anything goes wrong I take full blame and nothing happens to you guys."

"We don't have to face the Captain's wrath? Or the Generals? Shebs I'm so kriffing in." Zeer smirked.

"Zeer language!" Appo shouted.

"Appo, chill I said it was fine. I really don't care what you guys say around me."

"But if the General or the Captain found out we would be killed."

"Once again, I take full blame. Besides, if you guys cuss around each other all the time I don't see the point of watching your language around me anyways. It's going to slip out eventually especially on the front lines."

Appo shrugged and decided to let the subject drop. She had a point. The group made their way out of the barracks and even though it was awkward at first, by the time they all reached the gym they laughing and messing with each other like old friends. The Clones laughed at Ahsoka's reaction when she saw the gym. The place was huge. It had an obstacle course, a track around the perimeter, punching bags, various weight machines along with other exercise equipment, and in the center of everything was the boxing ring. "Yeah I know, out of all of the battalion cruisers ours has the best gym."

"No, The Wolf Pack has a better gym then ours"

"So ours is the second-best gym."

Zeer put his arm around Ahsoka's shoulders and lead her through the gym, pointing dramatically at everything. "And over here is the shooting range, and in that corner over there is where I was almost knocked out by a flying dung bell, don't ask; and over here is our destination. The antigrav room."

Hardcase, Longshot and Kix were suiting up outside of the antigrav room when they saw Ahsoka and the rest come up to them. "Where's Ax and Coric?" Ahsoka asked, looking around.

"Coric couldn't make it, he has inventory to do today and Ax is already suited up, he's in there with Jesse and Boost, I don't know if you met them yet or not," Kix answered as he pulled on his gravity boots.

"Oh this going to be so much fun" Hardcase cackled gleefully while rubbing his hands together. Ringo, Zeer, and Appo went to go suit up while Longshot showed Ahsoka how to suit up herself and use the magnetic gravity boots. After a few minutes, the group was in the room and they started to explain the rules of grav ball to Ahsoka. Then the teams were created and the game was on.

* * *

Rex was walking around the cruiser looking for Ahsoka, seeing how he had lost her. Again. He hadn't seen her in several hours and he was getting worried. He had checked the mess hall, med bay, the hangar, and several other places and there was no orange Torgurtan in sight anywhere. He was about to turn a corner when he was almost run over by two enthusiastic brothers.

"Sorry, sir."

"Sorry Captain."

"Where are you two going off to in such a rush?" Rex asked impatiently.

"To see the game, Captain."

"Game?" Rex raised an eyebrow.

"In the antigrav room, word got around that there was a game going on and the new Commander was playing. Vod are saying it's one of the best games they've ever seen and the new Commander is kicking ass."

Rex pinched the bridge of his nose, "So that's where she is. Of course, should've known." Rex mumbled under his breath. The men looked at each other at his comment but didn't say anything. "Alright let's go," Rex said louder and he started walking towards the gym. On the way to the gym, he saw more and more of his brothers heading in the same direction, all of them eager to see the game. Rex was getting more concerned and curious by the minute.

"Did you hear about that takedown in between Ringo and Longshot?"

"NO! Shebs, the last thing I heard was when Jesse and Longshot teamed up to take down Kix and Appo."

"Brother, that was a while ago, you need to catch up."

"I heard that Hardcase and Ax are trying to take the new Commander."

Rex entered the gym and made his way through the crowd so he could see what was going on. He got to the window just in time to watch Ahsoka push off from the left wall, fly into the air, spin and do a perfect bicycle kick, her foot hitting the ball and sent it flying in the direction of Appo and Ax. Appo had to dodge and move to the ceiling, turning his grav boots on; but Ax was able to block the ball and send it flying into the direction of Hardcase who was on the floor.

"What are the teams now?"

"I think it's Ringo, Longshot, Kix, The Commander, and Hardcase against Jesse, Zeer, Ax, Appo, and Boost."

"No, you got it mixed up some, Jesse is on the Commander's team and Hardcase is on the other one."

Rex was barely paying attention to what his brothers were talking about around him, he heard something about the teams and with the information, he was able to follow the game better. He brought his full attention back to the game. Kix, Zeer, and Longshot were on the ceiling, Hardcase, Boost, and Ringo were on the left wall, Ahsoka was on the ground with Ax; Appo and Jesse were floating in the air. The right wall turned blue and everybody was moving.

It was hard to tell what happened next. Jesse had the ball and tried to throw it to Ax, but the shot went wide and it blindsided Appo and hit his shoulder before bouncing off of the ground heading towards Ahsoka. Seeing an opportunity Hardcase barreled into Ahsoka and the two crashed into the ceiling than floor before Ahsoka was able to turn her grav boots on and they landed on the right wall. Rex, watching everything started to get worried after he saw the takedown, Hardcase had Ahsoka pinned pretty hard and after they got untangled Rex saw that she started to favor her right side some. He knew things got rough in the antigrav room, and he knew that Ahsoka could take care of herself and that none of the men would ever truly hurt her but that didn't mean that something bad could happen.

Then the incident happen, Kix tried to block Ahsoka but it was too late. Everything happened so fast no one really saw what happened but it was enough for Rex to get truly pissed off and end the game. "Alright that's it, game over." Rex roared into the com system that was connected to the room. After one death glare from Rex, everybody watching scattered, none of them wanting to be in the room for the bloodbath that was about to happen.

Rex waited until everybody was out of their suits, "Kix go take Appo to the med bay and fix his arm."

"Yes, sir!" Kix all but saluted before grabbing Appo and both of them practically ran away.

Rex didn't know if he wanted to yell his head off or just sit down and put his head in hands and pray for forgiveness on whatever he had done wrong in his life that led him to this moment. Why the hell was he the one in charge of Skywalker's new padawan anyways? Things were actually going pretty decent throughout the whole day than this!"

"I take full blame for everything," Ahsoka spoke up. Rex glared at her and everybody else before sighing.

"Fine, everybody dismissed. You," he gestured towards Ahsoka, "With me."

The walk to Rex's office was silent, tension filling the air. Rex was still trying to figure out what to do as he slammed himself down into his chair as soon as they walked into the room. Ahsoka stood by the desk but didn't move to sit. Her face was unreadable as she waited for Rex to talk or yell or whatever he was going to do. What she was not prepared for was what he actually did.

Rex started to laugh. It went from a low chuckle to a full-blown head thrown back laugh. After a minute or two, he wiped his hand over his face trying to calm himself down but he was still chuckling. Ahsoka watched him with growing fear and concern. Rex looked at Ahsoka and started to laugh again.

"I'm officially losing my kriffin mind," Rex mumbled after he officially calmed down. "The General already drives me insane, half the time I want to shoot him. Now this, what am I going to do."

"I'm sorry," Ahsoka said as she sat down.

"I'm banning you from the antigrav room."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"But I thought,"

"I know what you thought. Let's just say this is a free pass, the only one you'll get; but I am telling the General when he gets back."

"Oh," The room fell silent once again while Rex worried about his mental health. "It was a fun game while it lasted." Ahsoka sighed wistfully. She was going to miss playing grav ball, she could already tell. "Am I banned from the gym too?"

"No," Rex replied after a moment.

"Oh thank the force. I will go crazy otherwise."

Rex considered his options, Ahsoka was filled with so much energy and he knew she needed to be doing something consistently. He thought back to their conversation when they were walking from the bridge. "You were telling me earlier that you're used to getting up early for training right?"

"At the temple, I usually got up around 4 or 5 in the morning, my lightsaber class was the first one in the morning, then there was practice time right afterward, us padawans would fight against each other to hone our battle skills and get used to the different fighting styles that we all used."

"Join morning PT."

"What?"

Rex smiled, this was a good idea, a way for Ahsoka to have an outlet for her energy and he could keep a better eye on her. "Join morning physical training in the gym. It is a good way for you to train, get to know what to do better, have an outlet for your energy and other things. You can join the men on the obstacle course and doing other things or you can train with your lightsabers."

Ahsoka grinned, she loved it. "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you. When does it start?"

"6 am," Rex chuckled at her enthusiasm. He had a feeling that as long as he kept her busy everything else would be fine until Skywalker got back.

* * *

For the rest of the week, things went along pretty good. Rex had Ahsoka shadow Hardcase, Kix, and Longshot on their shifts and after a few days, she had a near-perfect understanding of what to do on the resolute when it wasn't in battle. The downside to having her shadow those men was that they were now overly attached to their 'little Commander' and had decided she was vod'ika. The three men not only quickly became highly protective of her but they also decided that since she was family it was completely ok for her to hang out in the barracks. Rex tried lecturing both her and the men but he gave up after the second day and was now resigned to the fact that even though Ahsoka had her own room she practically lived in the barracks too.

Having her join morning PT was also another great idea. Her boundless energy had an outlet and she was also able to train with the men, learn how to coordinate and eventually fight with them better. All in all, things went well, even Admiral Yoularen was impressed by how quickly she learned and how once she had the hang of things she was extremely helpful.

Then there was the downside to the rest of the week. With the men officially treating their little Commander as one of their own that meant that they were willing participants in her schemes. Now all of the 501st were acting like younglings and somehow a prank war had been started.

Rex waited in the hangar for Skywalker to show up, he was slightly surprised that Ahsoka wasn't next to him. Throughout the week she did keep mentioning how she wanted to start Jedi training, and Rex knew that she felt she did something wrong and that's why the General left without her. When his fighter finally came into the hangar Rex felt an enormous weight lift off of his chest. He was no longer the only one in charge of Ahsoka.

Anakin jumped out of his fighter, "So Rex, how was snips? I see the ship is still intact." Anakin looked around, "Where is snips?'

"I'm glad your back General. The week has been..interesting. Some bumps in the road but we made it through. The last time I saw the Commander she was in the gym with some of the men."

"From the look on your face, I can tell a lot happened. Come on, I took some of Obi Wan's whiskey. I have a feeling you need a drink."

"I need 5."

Anakin laughed.


End file.
